Former WA Senator and women’s campaigner Patricia Giles has died

From her early work as a midwife to leading an Australian delegation to the United Nations, Patricia Giles dedicated her life to creating a better world for women.

The former WA senator died peacefully in her sleep on Wednesday at the age of 88 after a battle with dementia.

She is survived by four daughters and four grandchildren.

Ms Giles was a leader of the women’s rights movement, a trade unionist and a founding member and inaugural convenor of the Women’s Electoral Lobby in WA in 1973. The first woman on the executive of the WA Trades and Labor Council, she was elected as an ALP senator in 1980 and held the position until 1993.

She led a number of international delegations, was inaugural president of the World Women Parliamentarians for Peace and for a time chaired the UN Global Commission on Women’s Health.

In 2010, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.

Camera IconPatricia Giles

The Patricia Giles Centre in Joondalup, a not-for-profit service for women and children fleeing domestic violence, was established in her name.

Daughter Anne Giles said her mother had an extraordinary ability to get people together to achieve things without a lot of fuss.

She had been particularly proud of her midwifery, her international work, the Joondalup refuge and chairing a Senate inquiry into nursing homes and private hospitals. “That inquiry really revolutionised that sector. What we see now, there is a direct line,” Anne Giles said.

WA Education Minister Sue Ellery said Ms Giles had been a generous mentor to many young women interested in politics.

“Her work as a senator took her from helping establish women’s refuges in the northern suburbs, to supporting the Women’s Peace camp in Canberra, to leading Australia’s delegation to the United Nations,” Ms Ellery said.